Dentition of Watom Island, Bismarck Archipelago, Melanesia
Abstract
Teeth belonging to two adults excavated from the Lapita level occupation of Watom Island (ca. 2,300 years before present [YBP]) are described and compared with three large dental series from New Britain, recent Thailand, and Mokapu, Hawaii. As far as can be determined from a sample of two individuals, the Watom teeth appear to be more like those from New Britain than Thailand or Hawaii. All teeth are free of dental caries, hinting that the Watom diet was not overly dependent on sticky carbohydrate foodstuffs.
Teeth belonging to two adults excavated from the Lapita level occupation of Watom Island (ca. 2,300 years before present [YBP]) are described and compared with three large dental series from New Britain, recent Thailand, and Mokapu, Hawaii. As far as can be determined from a sample of two individuals, the Watom teeth appear to be more like those from New Britain than Thailand or Hawaii. All teeth are free of dental caries, hinting that the Watom diet was not overly dependent on sticky carbohydrate foodstuffs.
